By Leslie Scanlon, The Presbyterian Outlook
Leaders of 14 of the 16 synods in the Presbyterian Church (USA) are speaking out against a recommendation from the Mid Councils Commission that the denomination’s synods be reconfigured into eight large regional synods.
That kind of opposition could pose a significant challenge to the commission’s recommendations, as happened in 2012, when the assembly voted down a series of recommendations from a previous commission – including eliminating synods as ecclesiastical bodies and the idea of non-geographic presbyteries.
The 2012 assembly voted to create another Mid Councils Commission to come back with new recommendations – and now many of the synod executives want the assembly to reject key recommendations from that new commission as well.
In a statement titled “A View From the Field,” the synod leaders write that they support a recommendation from the commission that the assembly create a Committee on Mid Councils to strengthen and nurture the work of mid councils, “with particular emphasis on collaborating with the synods . . . ”